I just took my gmat & ended with a ok ok score of 650 q47 v 34 (siggghhh). Anyway I hope my experience is helpful to someone out there to slay his monster cause mine still very much alive & laughing his head out.
This was my second attempt. My first attempt I had abysml 600. I still don't know hpw I managed to get over it & start studying again.
Now to what you stat geeks would like to analyse & decode in your mystic ways. I'm male 26 indian non-it management studies grad working in a big 4 for the last 1.5 yrs but have a total work cose to 9 yrs last I calculated ( I had my own start-up).
I began my second prep by enrolling myself for a gmat prep class in mumbai. I was determined to crack the mystical 700 score & wanted all the help I could possibly get. From my last attempt I had the following material
OG 12, Kaplan Verbal & Math Workbooks Kaplan premier & I did them thrice in my prep.
The classes where ok but polished my rusty math concepts & some other touch ups but still didn't push me to that magical score. I attended all the classes religiously & did the homework given in class. In the end I had finished the class worksheets &
og 10.
My real prep & I mean test my brains 120% capacity when I blundered onto the gmat club. I have been hooked on this forum for the last 8-9 months. I literally begin my day checking new posts, on the crapper I had the rss feeds, post lunch it was gmat club & its a miracle that H R hasn't thrown me out. I have downloaded so many notes, problems, etc I lost track where I found the stuff.
My prep for the last couple of months was like this
Morning before work 1 hour of whatever said GMAT. Solved analyze mistakes, redo problems, etc. I have even given a test at 5 am & scored a 660. Usually what I had to do was penned down the previous night & I used to over schedule. This was only possible when I didn't have to go to Thane (2.5 hrs travel in a bus that could remind you what milk feels in a blender)
Arrive at work, first thing check the forums new post, posts that followed my replies, etc usually an hour. Then maybe if I had time solve problems & revert with my workings. I could at the best of days devote 4 hrs at work daily. I even worked on lsat cr & rc passages, sc questions ( if someone wants the stuff I referred to just post it will consolidate & upload. BB upload limit will be breached :-p)
Home usually at the best I could give an hour at night. Usually was fagged out beyond anything.
I gave the following tests:
Gmat prep 690 690 660
Kaplan old : 585
Princeton : idiotic software never gave the score
Crack Gmat : 600, 620 warning low scoring
1 more I had a 720 q44 v44
Material Used :
OG 12 & 10
Kaplan Workbooks
Manhattan Guides (some extent)
Lsat rc & cr
Whiplash sc notes
Gmat club flash cards
Club quant notes
Manhattan sc notes
Class prep material
Advise :
I don't know why people keep praising manhattan guides, their tests can help you but the club notes are the best. I gone through them & honestly couldn't understand what the hell is a subject & verb. The club notes fine tuned my homing skills & this is not a false praise but I could figure out stuff only after joining this site. The thing is you have to dedicate yourself & then ask, people will reply & literally won't stop till you get it. Manhattan can't do this for sure
RC & CR start with the lsat stuff. Your brains probably will be tuned to take the beating post you finish
Quant the club forum nothing else... Just keep solving.
OG Kaplan & every other stupid material possible
The club tests are try at your own risk. They meant for quant gods. If I scored a 5% I would dance with joy.
Awa chineseburn guide nothing else
Exam prep : Its crucial you don't stress yourself while you prep or take the exam. The day I didn't care about the score I scored really well or got everything. Its more about you learning while preparing than the score. Eat well sleep well. This exam screws your life & while you prepare your a zombie without a life. It brings out the worse & best of you & you have to deal with it. People around you have too as well
I guess I rambled on enough, I just hope my score is enough to get me into my dream schools
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